speaker, nancy pelosi, mrs. bush, harry reid, leader mcconnell, secretary of state hillary clinton and my colleagues in government this is a special day to honor a special person in a special place. for many years i have followed tragedies and victories of this uncommonly courageous and persistent woman. in 1988 she quickly rose to be the voice of democracy in burma creating the lead for democracy, elections followed in 1990 when her party won 80% but that joy turned to tragedy and the the military junta and aung san suu kyi spent 3 decades under house arrest unable to visit her dying husband. in 1996 i recall senator bill cohen approaching with senator mccain to sponsor a burma sanction bill, sanctions were put in place in 1997 and only loosened in july of this year. senator mcconnell became one of aung san suu kyi's chief advocates and we continue to work on behalf of the people of burma. in 2003 following an assassination attempt senator mcconnell and i worked to pass an important man the remains in place tod